Max the wild things

Where the Wild Things Are

2009, Kids & family/Fantasy, 1h 41m

What to know

Some may find its dark tone and slender narrative off-putting, but Spike Jonze's heartfelt adaptation of the classic children's book is as beautiful as it is uncompromising. Read critic reviews

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Movie Info

Feeling misunderstood at home and at school, mischievous Max (Max Records) escapes to the land of the Wild Things, majestic -- and sometimes fierce -- creatures. They allow Max to become their leader, and he promises to create a kingdom where everyone will be happy. However, Max soon finds that being king is not easy and that, even being with the Wild Things, there is something missing.

Cast & Crew

Catherine Keener

Mom

Max Records

Max

Mark Ruffalo

Boyfriend

James Gandolfini

Carol Voice

Lauren Ambrose

KW Voice

Chris Cooper

Douglas Voice

Catherine O'Hara

Judith Voice

Forest Whitaker

Ira Voice

Paul Dano

Alexander Voice

Spike Jonze

Director

Spike Jonze

Screenwriter

Dave Eggers

Screenwriter

Tom Hanks

Producer

Gary Goetzman

Producer

Maurice Sendak

Producer

John B. Carls

Producer

Vincent Landay

Producer

Thomas Tull

Executive Producer

Jon Jashni

Executive Producer

Bruce Berman

Executive Producer

Lance Acord

Cinematographer

K. K. Barrett

Production Design

Eric Zumbrunnen

Film Editing

Casey Storm

Costume Design

Karen O

Original Music

Carter Burwell

Original Music

News & Interviews for

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All Critics (268) | Top Critics (75) | Fresh (195) | Rotten (73)

View All Critic Reviews (268)

Audience Reviews for

• Apr 14, 2014

  There's always a certain amount of trepidation when a filmmaker gets their hands on a book that you loved as a child. Even if we overlook the general risk that the whole project may become a cynical Hollywood cash-grab, the director's vision may be so different to your childhood imaginings that it ends up tarnishing the original experience, perhaps permanently. We find ourselves in precisely this predicament with Where The Wild Things Are. Maurice Sendak's 1963 book has become a classic in children's literature, beloved for generations and in various stages of development hell since the early-1980s. Spike Jonze is a director with a glowing reputation, but a seven-year gap between features isn't immediately reassuring. Fortunately, the results are very good, and while the film is by no means perfect, it remains a touching and compelling work. There has been a fair amount of debate as to whether Where The Wild Things Are can be called a children's film. Certainly its marketing didn't position it as such: its trailers played more on the indie cred of Jonze, highlighting the soundtrack work by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and using a re-recorded version of Arcade Fire's big hit 'Wake Up', which doesn't appear in the film. This is a touchy subject given that Sendak's book has become so iconic: surely any successful adaptation must be considered a children's film? Additionally, I've railed against many so-called children's films which are blatantly not for children - films like Ratatouille and much of Dreamworks' output, which are films aimed at an adult audience disguised as children's animations. But what becomes quickly apparent is that Jonze didn't want to make a typical children's film - not by a long shot. Instead, Jonze wanted to make a film about what it felt like to be a child - a film not just for children in a demographic sense, but about children in a behavioural sense. He wanted to capture the burgeoning, pre-pubescent energy of Max, exploring how his rage and frustration manifests itself as the Wild Things and how he comes to grow in realising how hard is it to govern one's personified rage. Certainly there's nothing about the film that could be called cutesy or sanitised, which comes as a relief given Disney's involvement in the early stages of development. The next issue that any adaptation would have to confront is the story. Where The Wild Things Are is barely 10 sentences long, and sure enough there isn't a great deal of plot in the film. In a more extravagant fantasy vehicle, such as the ongoing Hobbit trilogy, the paucity of story would either be stretched out with ancillary material or serve as a jumping-off point to take things in a new direction. But again, Jonze does it differently: he completely acknowledges the limits of the source novel, delivering a film which is more about mood than story. The visual tone of Where The Wild Things Are is one of whistful melancholy, into which the great pockets of childish energy can invade. The colour palette is rooted in earthy, wooden browns, pale yellows and the greys of faded stuffed toys, giving the world of the Wild Things an instant feeling of age and mystery. Lance Acord, who has worked with Jonze since Being John Malkovich, emphasises the scale of the Wild Things and their isolation; they tower over Max in the close-ups, but otherwise the landscape towers over them. In creating this whistful tone, Jonze succeeds in both rooting the angst of Max and conveying the way in which time passes for a child of his age. Young children do not have the same grasp of efficient narrative storytelling that we embrace as adults; in their fantasies they often feel like they've been away for years, even if they can't describe everything they did in that time. Jonze beautifully captures the feeling present in the book that Max's adventure is like a half-remembered dream - and, as a bonus, works around the fact that not very much happens. The film also deserves credit for the realisation of the Wild Things. Having toyed with various CG options between the early-1980s and mid-2000s, the creatures were eventually brought to life through the Jim Henson Workshop. Despite being partially created with animatronics, they have none of the creakiness or jerky movements that we associate with this form of puppeteering. And while some CGI was involved to sync up the dialogue with the characters' lip movements, they still have an amazing and distinctive physicality, without which the film would simply be a failure. This brings us on naturally to the cast, who are generally very good. James Gandolfini is the stand-out among the voice actors, bringing a lot of anger to the part of Carol but also conveying the age of the Wild Things. Catherine Keener doesn't get a great deal of screen time, but she does convey the sense of frustration that sets the story in motion. As for the lead, Max Roberts takes a little while to bed into the role, but his performances is naturalistic enough to be convincing in the end. The other great success of Where The Wild Things Are is its subtlety. The book has often been interpreted as a Freudian text, in which the Wild Things are different manifestations of Max's anger. The lazy thing to do in these circumstances would have been to divide up Max's personality traits and deal them out to the Wild Things, so that each one would represent something at the expense of proper characterisation. Instead, Jonze leaves it open to us to decide the different Wild Things' significance, letting us be as imaginative as Max is. There are a couple of small problems with Where The Wild Things Are. In spite of consciously addressing the lack of plot and the choice of pacing, the film still feels slow or baggy in places. For everything that I've talked about, and all the successes in Jonze's approach, there remains a nagging feeling that more could have been done with the characters, which would in turn have justified the cinematic scale. Another smaller problem is the sound mixing. While the musical soundtrack fits pretty well with the action on screen, at times it is difficult to discern what the Wild Things are saying, particularly during their first encounter with Max. This becomes less of a problem as the film goes on and the acting becomes more boisterous, but it prevents us from getting in the zone with the characters sooner, which may put younger viewers off. Where The Wild Things Are is a very interesting achievement which will go down as one of the most intriguing and original children's adaptations in recent memory. While not everything about the story or its execution is entirely satisfying, Jonze deserves a lot of credit for capturing the mood and tone of Sendak's story, and for his realisation of the titular creatures. Whether as a playful exploration of a child's imagination or a complex Freudian journey, it is something that remain with you for a very long time.

  Daniel M Super Reviewer

• Aug 12, 2013

  "Wild thing, you make my heart sing, you make everything good!" I'm sorry, I just had to do that, and now that I have, I'm kind of nervous, because as if it's not dangerous enough for a little boy to be hanging out with a bunch of giant monsters, that song makes it sound like these lovable monster really do find the kid lovable as well, if you know what I mean. .. parents who were hoping that they had found some kind of children's entertainment nowadays that doesn't need some kind of mature innuendo to be enjoyed by the parents. Well, either a reference to "Wild Thing" in the context of this film makes me think of that, or that cool performance of "Wild Thing" that Jimi Hendrix did at Monterey Pop, and how this film's lead Max character could have landed on Elvis Island with the intention of bringing Hendrix back to the back which believes him to be dead. Looks like the kid got lost and ended up in Obscurity Junction, from which he has apparently pried Spike Jonze, as well as Lauren Ambrose and Catherine O'Hara, who hadn't been doing much for a while by 2009. Speaking of performers whose careers were kind of losing momentum by 2009, the makers of this film should have also picked up Jon Voight during their run through the Obscurity Junction, because, seriously, how cool would it have been to have Voight in a film about "Wild Thing", a song written by his brother, Chip Taylor (Man, Jon Voight probably isn't too popular in the family, because if he has a relative who makes it big in the entertainment industry, her or she has just got to get a different name)? Oh, woops, speaking of overactive imaginations, with all of my rambling on about "Wild Thing", I appear to have convinced myself that this film is about that song, and it doesn't help that this film is based on another property of the '60s that I'm surprised is marketable to today's kids. Some would say that this film's hardly making its budget back reflects youngsters' lack of interest in this property nowadays, but first off, I'd like to see you pull $100 million out of your pocket if it's such a disappointingly low gross revenue, and secondly, probably the reason why this film wasn't as revisited by families as the filmmakers were hoping is because it, as decent as it is, isn't as interesting as it perhaps could have been, and for several reasons. Chances are, one of your biggest fears when walking into this film is conventionalism, and as sure as sunshine, the film is rather formulaic, hitting more than a few familiar beats until ending up on a predictable path, like plenty of other family films of this type, and that's fine I guess, because you shouldn't be asking too much out of a family film, yet the laziness within the originality department would be much easier to ignore if it wasn't for a somewhat adult tone. The film seems to be mostly aimed at adult who are nostalgic for the wonderment of youth, and it's almost a nitpick to criticize this film for not being as kiddy as it could have been, but the limited focus in demographic targeting creates a kind of uneven tone which juggles dark tones which are bound to be unappealing to kids, as well as overly light tones that aren't exactly going to excite grown-ups, yet still isn't grown up enough to build all that strong of a story. The film does a pretty decent job of expanding upon Maurice Sendak's classic family fairy tale, and there's more potential than you might think for a rewarding, maybe even strong family flick here, but not exactly an abundance, because there's still a distinctly kiddy type of thinness within this subject matter's weight which softens the ground upon which the foundation that is this film is built, leaving the film to run the pretty real risk of collapsing into underwhelmingness under the weight of natural shortcomings, emphasized by issues within this execution of this improvable subject matter. The film clocks in at a little over 100 minutes, and by no means is that very long, but for a story this limited in kick, that's more time than this film needs, and it often goes achieved through overlong stretches of filler which slow down momentum, particularly when joined by, of all things, atmospheric dry spells, which are hardly all that severe, but still stand. The film certainly doesn't get to be as slow as something like Spike Jonze's "Being John Malkovich", and is more often than not reasonably entertaining, with genuinely fun moments, but those moments in which atmospheric kick dip leave you to meditate upon how kind of overblown this film is, because even with all of the heart which comes close to making a rewarding film, this effort could have been stronger, and perhaps would have been were it not for a palpable sense of ambition's emphasizing the areas in which the final product does not fulfill its potential. The film is endearing, and so considerably so that charm alone stands a chance of dragging the final product from the depths of mere decency and into unexpected rewarding heights, but alas, Jonze's heart ends up coming back to haunt him by reflecting the areas in which he fails to do what he set out to do, resulting in an emphasis on natural shortcomings that, when intensified by tonal and pacing problems, holds the final product back from genuinely rewarding. Still, the film comes close enough to really compel, being flawed and all, but ultimately quite enjoyable, even as far as musicality is concerned, at least to a certain extent. Much of the film's color is driven by its soundtrack, which would be great I guess if much of the music wasn't handled by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, or rather, the No No Nos, resulting in pretty upbeat indie musical sensibilities whose lyrical touches are typically cheesy, with some questionably overstylized vocal interpretations, and whose underscore also gets to be a bit too fluffy for its own good, maybe even a touch bland, but not so much so that you can't appreciate the musical compositions behind this film, whose tenderly quirky tastes prove to be generally successful in adding to the effectiveness of this film's tonal color. The music often helps in giving you a sense of wonderment, and the location tastes also add to the kick of this fantasy flick, which works to avoid artificial and chroma key sets for the sake of celebrating dynamic and rich landscapes, into which you're bound to be drawn by tastefully grand cinematography by Lance Acord. The musical aspects are decent and all, but on a visual level, the film is kind of remarkable, and no matter how much the shortcomings in story undercut the potential color of this film, rather majestic visuals do justice a story deserving of a sense of wonderment. No matter how much this interpretation builds on Maurice Sendak's classic story of only 338 words, there's only so much to say here, but Sendak did that in a colorful fashion which can be expanded into a pretty engaging narrative, something that this film doesn't offer as much of as it probably should, but not from a lack of trying, as Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers turn in a clever script whose expansions often get to be a bit too carried away, but generally do a fine job of adding to the color of this mythology, as well as depths of its subject matter, thanks to well-rounded characterization and sharp filler. The script isn't too terribly strong, as it is unable to save the final product from a collapse into relative underwhelmingness under the weight of shortcomings within this story's concept and written execution, but it is ultimately commendable for its wit and heart, brought to life by direction by Jonze which is also flawed, but has a certain tender tone which soaks up subtle entertainment value and dramatic weight, and whose compellingness goes arguably topped by colorful portrayals of colorful characters. First off, I would like to say that the effects of the monsters, or, if you will, "Wild Things", are pretty outstanding, seamlessly combining practical and digital effects in order to bring the non-human characters to relatively convincing life, but not alone, as James Gandolfini, Lauren Ambrose, Chris Cooper, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O'Hara and Paul Dano all deliver on thoroughly colorful voice performances which capture the memorable, if occasionally obnoxious depths of the "Wild Things" who represent a child's imaginative interpretation of people and relationships, while young leading man Max Records also delivers in capturing the wonderment and layers of a boy looking to escape reality through his own overactive and sometimes somewhat dark imagination. There's more subtlety to this family fantasy flick's thematic depth than you might think, and such brightness further reflects a hefty deal of potential which is ultimately betrayed by the film's shortcomings and near-desperate ambition to be more than what it is, but not so much so that the final product isn't brought to the brink of rewarding by color and heart which go a long way, even if they don't go far enough carry the film as far as it could have and perhaps should have gone. When the fantasy has faded, you're left with the harsh reality that conventionalism, tonal uncertainty, atmospheric slow spells, dragging and a sense of overambition emphasize the natural shortcomings of a promising story enough to drive the final product just short of rewarding, but not so short that colorful score work, grand locations, - celebrated beautifully by immersive cinematography - exceptional effects and a colorful story, done justice by clever writing, heartfelt direction and across-the-board strong performances, aren't able to make Spike Jonze's interpretation of "Where the Wild Things Are" adequately entertaining, sometimes compelling and ultimately quite enjoyable for kids and adults, if rather held back. 2.75/5 - Decent

  Super Reviewer

• May 01, 2013

  Where the Wild Things Are is a movie that is to be admired more than actually liked. It has many grown-up viewpoints about life, but is often in need of a sense of fun. It is too serious, and not quite as wondrous as it could've been. Overall Rating: 53

  Super Reviewer

• Nov 18, 2012

  Often moody and somber, Spike Jonze's 'Where the Wild Things Are' is strangely an emotionally hefty film. The pathos created is unexpected, but captures the tone of the film well. I've never seen a film so vividly encompass the emotional roller coaster we call childhood. A great soundtrack and amazing imagery definitely work in the movie's favor. A solid film, but it ends on a note that really isn't too upbeat, which is surprising for a film about a children's book. Jonze has definitely captured the soul of childhood, but the real question is whether or not he can capture his audience.

  Super Reviewer

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Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Trivia

IMDbPro

• 2009
• PG
• 1h 41m

IMDb RATING

6. 7/10

106K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

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AdventureDramaFamily

Yearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.Yearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.Yearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.

• Director
  • Spike Jonze
• Writers
  • Spike Jonze
  • Dave Eggers
  • Maurice Sendak
• Stars
  • Max Records
  • Catherine O'Hara
  • Forest Whitaker

IMDb RATING

6. 7/10

106K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

• Director
  • Spike Jonze
• Writers
  • Spike Jonze
  • Dave Eggers
  • Maurice Sendak
• Stars
  • Max Records
  • Catherine O'Hara
  • Forest Whitaker

• 460User reviews
• 346Critic reviews
• 71Metascore

• Awards
  • 7 wins & 54 nominations

Videos19

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Watch Where The Wild Things Are: What's Your Story

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Watch Where The Wild Things Are: You Know The Sun Is Going To Die?

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Watch Where The Wild Things Are: This Is Our Family

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Watch Where The Wild Things Are: I Like How You Destroy Stuff

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Watch Where The Wild Things Are: Dirt Clod Fight

Photos112

Top cast

Max Records

Catherine O'Hara

• Judith
• (voice)

Forest Whitaker

• Ira
• (voice)

Pepita Emmerichs

• Claire

Max Pfeifer

• Claire's Friend

Madeleine Greaves

• Claire's Friend

Joshua Jay

• Claire's Friend

Ryan Corr

• Claire's Friend

Catherine Keener

Steve Mouzakis

• Teacher

Mark Ruffalo

• The Boyfriend

James Gandolfini

• Carol
• (voice)

Vincent Crowley

• Carol Suit Performer

Paul Dano

• Alexander
• (voice)

Sonny Gerasimowicz

• Alexander Suit Performer

Nick Farnell

• Judith Suit Performer

Sam Longley

• Ira Suit Performer

Michael Berry Jr.

• The Bull
• (voice)

• Director
  • Spike Jonze
• Writers
  • Spike Jonze(screenplay)
  • Dave Eggers(screenplay)
  • Maurice Sendak(book)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Storyline

Did you know

• Quotes

  Douglas: Will you keep out all the sadness?

  Max: I have a sadness shield that keeps out all the sadness, and it's big enough for all of us.

User reviews460

Featured review

9/

10

Review For "Where The Wild Things Are"

Running Time: An hour and a half MPAA Rating: PG Max is angry. He is imaginative and rambunctious, but he has no control. He knows that, like the sun, one day his energy will run out and he'll fade away. These are difficult thoughts for a young boy who already has the dilemmas of his age to deal with. Many people learn to cope with life's troubles in their own way, and Max does so by becoming a wild thing.

The movie adds some unique elements to the original Maurice Sendak storybook. Max's behavior is given a cause and his trip into the land of the wild things is given a purpose. Each of the creatures has a unique personality derived from Max's experiences with people in his homeland. Carol (played by James Gandolfini), whose anarchic and misunderstood nature Max immediately identifies with, specifically seems to provide the boy a means for coming to terms with the father now missing from his life.

What really brings this film to life is the music. Written by Karen O (of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), the songs provide a youthful vigor that complements the action on screen. It was built from scratch for the movie and great use within each context shows. Energetic tracks filled with wild instrumentation and playground yells lend credence to the playful scenes in the movie, and Karen O's soft vocals fit in perfectly with the sentimental points.

Book purists won't be pleased to learn the extent of added material, of course, but may find comfort in the heavy involvement of the original author in the making of this film. Spike Jonze was specifically given the permission of the author, who had previously seen and highly regarded his work. Although this film does take much of the mystery and imagination out of the hands of the viewer, Sendak has given his personal approval of the interpretation after viewing the final product.

In the end, this movie wasn't quite what it could have been. It loses some of its steam toward the middle, when certain scenes feel as though they've been drawn out as long as possible to give the movie a bump to above the acceptable hour and a half mark. There are more shaky-cam running scenes in the film than an episode of "24", which could have easily become redundant and intolerable had it not been for the expressive and enthralling soundtrack. Fortunately, the movie manages to work as presented, and members of the audience may be inspired to search out the wild things within themselves once more.

The easily queasy should be warned; much of this movie is shot by hand-held camera, leading to what has become known as the "shaky-cam" effect. This can work out of some viewers' favor, but shouldn't provide a problem for the majority of audience members.

helpful•70

54

• Ross667-1
• Oct 13, 2009

• Is "Where the Wild Things Are" based on a book?

• Is this movie animated?

• How closely does the movie follow the book?

Details

• Release date
  • October 16, 2009 (United States)
• Countries of origin
  • Germany
  • United States
  • Australia
• Official sites
  • Official Facebook
  • Warner Bros. (France)
• Language
  • English
• Also known as
  • More Rice
• Filming locations
  • Flinders, Victoria, Australia
• Production companies
  • Warner Bros.
  • Legendary Entertainment
  • Village Roadshow Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Box office

• Budget
  • $100,000,000 (estimated)
• Gross US & Canada
  • $77,233,467
• Opening weekend US & Canada
  • $32,695,407
  • Oct 18, 2009
• Gross worldwide
  • $100,140,916

Technical specs

• Runtime

  1 hour 41 minutes

• Color
• Sound mix
  • Dolby Digital
  • SDDS
  • DTS
• Aspect ratio
  • 2. 39 : 1

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WHAT'S WRONG WITH Mad Max? — Journalist on DTF

Forced grind and truncated story campaign.

7328 views

Attention, spoilers!

Not the first time I go through Mad Max, but for the first time I consciously engage in masochism: I do side effects, I am engaged in gathering and clearing outposts.

At some point it got really hot and I had to share it with someone. This place was a blog where I clearly expressed my indignation at the imposed grind.

After two weeks of leisurely passage, I thought about the problems of Mad Max: what was wrong, where could be done better, and so on.

Today I will try to touch on 3 topics for discussion: gameplay, plot and leveling of the main character.

I warn you in advance that there will be no comments with complaints about the "wrong position", this text is a subjective opinion and does not count on "truthfulness".

What's wrong with the gameplay?

Sandstorm Coming at Max

Mad Max's gameplay can be divided into three categories:

• loot gathering;
• fights;
• driving.

No problem in any of the above.

Gathering loot

The map is large, as is the scattered scrap metal

Collecting loot and exploring atmospheric locations has always been fun, even if the action becomes repetitive over time. The design of exteriors and interiors makes you think about what happened: what passions the survivors had to go through and how it happened that entire oceans were empty in an instant, and water is now a rarity.

The local currency is scrap metal and trust, which is obtained by completing side quests in the Strongholds.

The quests of local leaders are surprisingly interesting and also useful. In Jeet's fortress, the last task is to blow up a tunnel blocked by sand. After completing the task, an additional path is unlocked, in addition to the Maw, with the help of which it will be possible to easily travel to the territory of the vultures - "Dunes".

Scrap metal is more difficult.
Small batches are mined in the "pozhiva" territories. You fall into a small camp, neutralize unfriendly residents and take all the loot with you. Cars full of pieces of iron are driving around the territories of the wasteland. It is enough to catch such a ride and take it safe and sound to the nearest fortress - the balance is immediately replenished by 500 coins.
Sandstorms are the least common. For the entire 20-hour passage, Max only had a chance to visit such troubles 3 times. The force of the wind blows the boxes with scrap metal into the distance and in the hope of stopping them, the Hunchback uses a harpoon. Caught, dismantled, received 300 scrap.
When encountering members of hostile factions - in the wasteland, almost every faction is hostile - you can blow up their cars, and then collect the fallen loot.

Fights

For comparison, I'll take Sleeping Dogs, where the level of melee combat just rolls over - no wonder, because the whole game consists of fights.

In Sleeping Dogs, every blow is felt, and every fracture or knockout is an orgasm.

Mad Max has a similar situation. Each impact is felt due to the significant vibration of the joystick and the soundtrack, which vividly emphasizes the contact of Max's fist with someone's face. The game itself encourages the player to get involved in a fight and make a bloody mess at any successful occasion.

Driving

Driving is as comfortable as fighting on the road. Visually, everything looks juicy. There is scope for interacting with someone else's vehicle: you can tear off the wheel and the car will fly into a ditch, or use a shotgun and blow up an unprotected gas tank.

Driving a "Masterpiece" directly depends on its status, but if you stick to the golden mean, it's comfortable to control the car.

So what's the problem?

In the towers, guys... in the towers and outposts.

Paranoid's nightmare

Not that the first and second are too many, but these are almost the only activities available in the open world.
I do not rule out that the level designers approached the fulfillment of duties responsibly, however ... I don’t know who at Avalanche is puzzled by the creation and development of the open world, but each outpost is the performance of the same actions. Only combat saves.

The towers here are balloons. They unlock fast travel and allow you to inspect the nearby area for anything.

Extremely boring. Maybe the first five times it was interesting, but not on the twelfth.

Any unfilled balloon, surrounded by enemies and attached to the ground with cables. And over and over again, you first eliminate the enemies, unhook the cables and, if you're lucky, fly in a balloon. Or maybe this: the ball is de-energized, you need fuel for the generator, but there is no fuel nearby and, unfortunately, there is no spare tire in the car either.
Option one: return to the camp.

No thanks, go to hell. I'll save time.

After ten hours, towers and outposts get boring and grind, but can be avoided if... well, if you're not a masochist and want to spend two hours doing something more reasonable.
And no matter how much you would not like to engage in self-digging, at some point the game will still force you to do masturbation, but more on that later.

What's wrong with the plot?

Max Rokatansky

Who is Max? What he really is? What did he go through?

I have been puzzled by these questions since the beginning of the game. What do you think was the answer? No.

I will hasten to warn you: “none” is also an answer.

The player is thrown into a mud pit and given the only sure way to get out into the light - a linear narrative.

The main events unfold in the Wasteland. Max stole gasoline from Chlem's fighters. The local leader did not like such a maneuver, and on his truck, assembled from shit and sticks, he hit Max with lyuli. He was not at a loss and immediately found an assistant who would rape Max's brains throughout the game.

At some point, the protagonist encounters a shaman. He decides, for some unknown reason, to help Max get through to the inner "I" and free the real beast.

The shaman is the only character, a prism that allows you to look into Max's past, and then only partially. No one else, except for Hope and Glory, will allow himself such a luxury.

Sounds sad considering the potential of a character like Mad Max. He could make a strong dramatic character, with a difficult fate. It would be interesting to look at the internal victory over the ghosts of the past.

I understand that someone will object: “That was the idea of ​​the authors!”

Madness is the exact repetition of the same action over and over again in the hope of... a change.

Vas Montenegro, Antagonist of Far Cry 3

The same thing happens to Max: the cycle repeats from time to time until the bearer of the curse dies.

Deep.
Primitive.

Hope and Glory

Concubine Nadezhda and her daughter Slava

I will not go into subtleties and parse names into syllables, as well as their significance. One thing is clear: Hope and Slava remind Max of his dead wife and daughter.

Can I like a woman with a child as much as Max? No. Too little timing. The characters do not have time to reveal themselves and remain secondary heroes until the end of the game.

Max meets Nadezhda for the first time in Gut Cutter Fortress in the prisoner's hold. Access to additional missions is opened, like, I know where the cool car is, trust me and you can get reliable transport.

A lot of time passes and the next time Max meets with Hope in the fortress of Red Eyes during the attack of the Garbage - the right hand of the antagonist.

How did she get there? Where is her child? Why didn't Max react to her sudden appearance?

Everyone is at a loss The second significant appearance of Nadezhda

Later it turns out that Nadezhda now belongs to the Garbage and sits in Gastown ...

In short, empty chatter - during this time the characters do not reveal themselves in any way. Hope, as she was just a woman with red hair, so she remained. Her child is… well, a child.

The mess in Gastown ended with Max's delirium, where it was as if hinted that it was time to stop running away from the ghosts of the past and start a family. Runaway Hope helps Max get back on his feet and enlists his support in his quest for Glory. As a result, the protagonist finds the daughter and returns the mother.

Nadezhda offers Max to stay, but he turns on the stubborn ram and goes after the stolen "Masterpiece".

In the farewell scene, Slava offers Max to stay with Nadezhda and become "dad". This amused me very much, because Slava is the least familiar with Max and such a “mutual love” is difficult to explain. The writers refer to "kind eyes".

The scene with Slava's death in Max's arms is undeniably strong. Only now, not because of a sense of loss, but thanks to a well-directed cut-scene and a wonderful acting out of the voice actor.

Slava's death scene

The question arises: why did they pay so little attention to Hope and Glory, but added a lot of grind?

Answer remains open.

Griffa

Griffa, shaman

Griffa is a significant figure in the revelation of Max's past.

Nothing is known for certain about the shaman: who he is, what he does, and why he needs Max.

Perhaps this is also the ghost of the past haunted by Max, who wants to release the Madman.

Or maybe it's just a junkie and a personal simp of the protagonist who has been following him closely all his life, otherwise how would Griffa know about Max's past.

Before the next arrival of Griff, he conducts an intellectual conversation in which Max's past is revealed, as well as himself. Griffa communicates in metaphors and never finishes a thought, leaving food for thought.

Near Griffa, you can find symbols and Max's inner voices, personifying the ghosts of the past.

As soon as the player gets to Griffa, voices of ghosts are heard in the background, the screen blurs and a feeling of a drug attack is created, which once again casts doubt on the reality of Griffa

Each time at the end of the procedure, Griffa mysteriously disappears, and the drawings disappear, as do the voices in my head. Perhaps this is a side effect of the white powder that Griffa likes to abuse, or maybe . .. This is Max's imagination.

In that case, what is real then?

Griffy's main problem is upgrade points. To pass, it is not necessary to pump the main character, but there is a high chance of missing Griffa's tasks and not understanding the plot even more.

The developers tried to sit on two chairs at once - it turned out as usual. Max continues to be a charismatic protagonist in speedruns, but his past remains a mystery.

What is the problem?

A short story campaign does not allow the protagonist to reveal himself, and the players do not have time to become attached to the characters.

The game would be transformed by making the plot deeper and more interesting. How much can you think of and how deep can you dive into the holes of Max's mind?

Apparently, it will not be possible to find out.

What's wrong with pumping?

Mad Max pumping is divided into two categories:

• Max pumping
• leveling "Masterpiece"

This is how Masterpiece

Pumping a car is not so difficult. It is enough just to get a mountain of scrap, reduce the level of influence of the Schlem on the territory of the allies by destroying hostile camps, scarecrows, convoys and complete selected additional tasks. For everything about everything ... I don’t know how long it will take to fully pump. I don't have many free hours to spend teleporting from one point to another.

Scrap is needed everywhere. Scavenging spots are great for finding supplies. Caravans passing by are useful to rob, as are Member's cars. A couple of hours and the treasured thousand looms.

The captured camps also collect scrap.

To reduce the level of threat, you need to grind. Two paragraphs above, I specified.
Doing routine is not interesting, especially when forced. Exploring the open world for your own pleasure is much more pleasant. But the game does not motivate to explore.
The wasteland is empty.
Except conditional points the world doesn't interact in any way. In the same Fac Cry 5, Hope County lives its own life: the little animals run, the Edemists fight the rebels, and the hunters roam the forest. Virtual Montana generates "random events" that make it easier to believe what is happening.

Outposts - as a way to reduce influence - repetitive corridors with crowds of enemies. He came, he fought, he destroyed. No variety. Ubisoft is often accused of abusing the capture of camps. However, Far Cry has room for creativity. Even the presence of outstanding stealth makes the mission more diverse.

This is how the Max upgrade looks like Wow, how much scrap is

Max's abilities can only be pumped by Griff, who will have to be reached manually. There are no complaints about the abilities themselves, because having pumped everything to the maximum, you will not become invulnerable.

However, there is a problem much bigger than the lack of balance: Griffa's points, in other words, Crazy Grind.

Crazy Grind

For nothing, out of the kindness of the soul, no one will give you upgrade points. Reasonable. It is also reasonable to assume that points are awarded for completing tasks or destroying outposts. It's logical, right?

Tests that took more than one hour

Developers disagree. It is much more logical to shove an incomprehensible system of progress and completion of “tests”, for which Griffa points will be awarded and the level of fame will increase. By ignoring the "tests", there is a chance to leave an improved holster, a new jacket and a three-barreled shotgun intact. As well as improvements for the Masterpiece.

Trials - Grind. Kill 100 Slam fighters, blow up 10 red barrels, destroy 20 pugols. It all takes time and a lot of stress.

Once Max had to zipline 40 times, climbing up a ledge over and over again - 20 minutes of real time.

Ideally, the tests run on their own, unnoticed, while Max is busy with more pressing matters. But when the turning point in the story comes, Max needs a higher level of armor. You can't just buy it for a couple of hundred scrap. First increase the level of fame and then buy.

The benefit of increasing one level of fame automatically accrues one Griff point, which can also be spent on adding, for example, a health slot.

Leveling a Masterpiece is similar to leveling the main character, only twice as much scrap is required.

Sometimes the formal purchase of parts is not enough. You will have to manually scour the map in a certain area to find the right spare part.
And that's good, no, really. Compared to the unprincipled routine of searching for spare parts, a challenge appears and an enthusiastic Max rushes at full speed to look for the necessary parts.

Approximately somewhere here the creativity of the developers ends and ... that's it.

What's wrong?

Boosting a character, like a car, consists of performing the same type of actions, opening up new horizons and opportunities. But are these "horizons" worth so much effort? Don't know. The game can be easily played with medium Max and Masterpiece. There is no need for the most fashionable gear.

By creating a more convenient and favorable pumping for the player, using both the territory and unique characters, there would be an initiative to improve the hero and explore the open world, as the guys from Avalanche did with respect to transport parts.

Summing up all of the above, Mad Max turned out to be cool. Of course, it could have been better and needed better.

Suppresses the lack of a well-developed story company, which, obviously, would stretch for several more hours of play, but I'm sure it would be worth it. Mad Max is an interesting character, and since the Avalanche rewrote him from scratch, not talking about the past is a bad move, in my opinion.

Perhaps this is the script's point of view: Max, forever surrounded by the ghosts of the past.

VZGLYAD / Wild horde and sanitary ware :: Author Maxim Sokolov

Often the speeches that the Apostle Peter makes about the Apostle Paul serve to characterize not so much Paul as Peter. Psychologists call this projection. Many denunciations of the Russian army, produced by Kiev, can serve as a fair example of such a projection. For example, the widely developed theme of toilet bowls that became a victim of the Russian military - which became known to the whole world.

It would be a little more plausible (although not too) if the Russian barbarians were charged with plumbing vandalism, that is, crushing toilet bowls. For which a hammer is enough, at the disposal of the motorized part, of course, available. Hit once, that's the whole thing. And it is possible without a hammer and even without a conscious evil will.

In 1990, a domestic journalist, then carried away by the miners' strike movement, drank at home with a member of the Vorkuta strike committee. They drank a lot, and the striker was powerfully built. Deciding to visit the bathroom, he lost his balance there and knocked over the toilet in the fall. Drunk what does not happen.

As for the deliberate vandalism that the brothers and their sympathizers talk about, there are some doubts. The picture of how, having repulsed after the battle, the zagarbnik first of all seeks to crush and crush the toilet bowls, it seems somewhat deliberate. Another thing is looting. Entering a Ukrainian hut, a Russian soldier sees an unknown miracle of plumbing - a toilet with a flush. Driven by a natural impulse “I, Van, I want the same”, he takes the toilet bowl for himself as a military trophy. As Vysotsky sang,

"Trophy Japan,
Trophy Germany,
The country of Limonia has arrived,
Solid Suitcase."

Now there will be a trophy Ukraine. At least there are at least some historical analogies. A myriad of Weltmeister accordions were indeed imported into the USSR by victorious warriors. Although the analogy is still lame. The accordion is an autonomous thing. I took him from the battle, brought him home, and if you know how, play. It does not require any associated infrastructure. The same applies to pieces of cloth, books, tapestries, dishes, etc.

While the toilet is not like that. Firstly, in order to correctly dismantle it, you need skill, and not every toilet bowl can be dismantled: what if it is tightly cemented into the floor? Again, it must be cleaned and laundered. A shitty trophy loses a lot of value. Secondly, when a soldier on his way home with a victory plays the accordion, he looks brave. This is not what a warrior with a trophy toilet looks like.

Third, and most importantly, the toilet, taken per se, is not functional enough. For it to fully work, you need a flush tank connected to the water supply and you need a sewer system into which all unclean things will be washed off. In the absence of such an infrastructure, it remains only to pray for a faience product brought from a long trip, although it will look rather wild. This probably explains the fact that in trophy fever 1945, the requisition of toilet bowls was not observed.

Although, indeed, a flush toilet for a considerable part of the personnel (and not only for ordinary soldiers) was then an outlandish foreign innovation. A lot of the soldiers were from the peasants, and the then collective farm village knew only the conveniences in the yard. The same applied to the regional centers in the outback. And even to the regional centers. Without prior instruction, not everyone understood how to properly use plumbing equipment.

However, the civilization of Europe at that time should not be exaggerated either. Back in the early 1960s a quarter of Parisian households had conveniences in the yard. And such terms as backlash-closet and powder-closet, found in manuals on manor construction, are clearly of German origin. That is, recently even in Germany, the flush toilet was not in the public domain.

However, be that as it may in the relatively recent past with the latrines of Europe, the successes of toilet construction in the years of the first five-year plans were clearly insufficient (it was planned to produce 280 thousand products per year, which is not enough for the USSR; and what were the real production figures, not very understandable) gave the office of Dr. Goebbels a good story on the topic of Russian barbarians. It would fit in with plots of violence perpetrated by the Red Army hordes, etc.

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